Troops Move on Militants in Tribal Area of Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani soldiers seized control of a neighborhood dominated by foreign Islamist militants in the North Waziristan tribal district on Thursday as part of the most concerted military operation in the area in several years, a senior security official said.

Over 1,000 troops, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, moved after dawn into a neighborhood on the edge of the district’s main town, Miram Shah, that had become a sanctuary for Uzbek and Chinese fighters, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

But the troops met little resistance because most residents of the area, known as Matches Camp, had evacuated their homes a day earlier after being warned to leave by the authorities. “No one is left there now,” said the security official.

On Wednesday, Pakistani jet fighters and helicopter gunships pounded targets in Miram Shah and Mir Ali, a nearby town that is also a militant hub. The military said 81 people, mostly militants, died in the airstrikes and related ground fighting.

The fighting was among the most aggressive actions in years by the Pakistan Army in an area that is better known as the principal target of C.I.A. drone strikes in Pakistan, and whose large militant population is a periodic source of tension between Pakistani and American officials.

Analysts cautioned that the surge in fighting did not appear to be the start of a much-anticipated military offensive across North Waziristan — a longstanding demand of American officials. But it did appear to spell an effective end to faltering peace talks between the government and the Pakistani Taliban.

“The talks will fizzle out if this campaign continues,” said Talat Masood, a retired general and political analyst. “The military leadership feels the militants aren’t serious about talking — and I think the civilian leadership is starting to see that too.”

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The talks, which were instigated in February by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, have stalled amid violent Taliban infighting, continuing Taliban suicide attacks in the major cities, and tensions with the military over how much to concede to the militants.

A major military operation in North Waziristan would require support from Afghan and NATO forces across the border, said Mr. Masood, and that is unlikely before the second round of Afghanistan’s presidential election on June 14.

In a statement, the Pakistani military described Thursday’s assault on Matches Camp — named for a derelict match factory in the area — as a response to attacks on army installations in Miram Shah a day earlier.

But several officials said the assaults also targeted ethnic Uighur fighters allied with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a Chinese Islamist separatist group whose presence in Pakistan has long been the cause of Chinese government complaints.

On Thursday, at least 31 people were killed and 94 injured in explosions at a market in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region of western China, in what Beijing termed a “terrorist attack.” There was no claim of responsibility, but the Chinese authorities have blamed the East Turkestan group for similar attacks.

The Uighur fighters, who are dotted across militant havens in Waziristan, are an embarrassment to Mr. Sharif, who sees China as a crucial economic and military partner for Pakistan. On Thursday his brother Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab Province, signed an agreement with Chinese officials in Shanghai for the construction of a commuter train line in Lahore.

The army said it defused two improvised explosive devices and lost four men — a major and three soldiers — during Wednesday’s operations.

As always, no independent confirmation of the death tolls was available. Few reporters remain in North Waziristan, and human rights groups say that those who do are subject to harassment and intimidation from militants and the military.

Ismail Khan reported from Peshawar, and Declan Walsh from London.

A version of this article appears in print on May 23, 2014, on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Troops Move on Militants in Tribal Area of Pakistan. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe